File photo of the Birmingham Airport Authority board before convening a closed session on March 28. The Birmingham News file (Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The Birmingham Airport Authority met for more than an hour Monday afternoon in closed session to discuss "matters likely to be litigated."

Monday's meeting was the board's fourth closed session-only meeting since a flight information display board collapsed March 22, killing a 10-year-old boy and injuring members of his family.

The collapse occurred in the newly renovated portion of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. The renovated terminal is the first phase of a $201 million airport modernization project.

Monday's meeting began at 3:08 p.m. Five board members were present: Chairwoman Gaynell Hendricks and board members Janiece Allen, Michael Bell, John Burks Sr., and G. Ruffner Page, Jr. The vote to enter executive session was unanimous by all board members present.

Board Vice Chairman Steven Hoyt and board member David Wood were not present.

Airport authority attorneys Jim Goyer and Kem Bryant were present.

Goyer and Bryant have been representing the airport authority in a lawsuit filed by AL.com April 16 seeking release of documents under the Alabama Open Records Act pertaining to a flight information display sign involved in the fatal collapse.

After adjourning the meeting at 4:16 p.m., board members did not take questions. The board later released statements through the airport's website addressing the AL.com records lawsuit.

"Many of the documents requested were obtained last week after we made additional requests from our contractor Brasfield and Gorrie/BLOC Global and from our architect KPS on the terminal modification project," one of the board's statements said. "BAA lawyers had subpoenaed the company representatives to provide the information in a court hearing on an open records request from the Alabama Media Group."

Other parts of the authority's statements addressed the thousands of pages of documents the authority has produced since a judge granted a temporary restraining order in the case on April 17.

The judge's temporary restraining order prevented the airport authority from refusing to produce documents requested under the Open Records Act. The airport authority had filed a motion to dissolve the temporary restraining order.

After an April 24 hearing in the matter, the airport authority released more than 1,240 pages of additional documents to AL.com and other news media outlets. The documents included bid and design specifications and drawings for the airport's new flight information display signs.

A preliminary injunction hearing, to further require the airport authority to produce all of the documents listed in the judge's order, is scheduled to continue on Wednesday in the courtroom of Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Boohaker.